Thememaker and the end of Planet Coaster's lifecycle

Ferran

F
I'm guessing we might be approaching the end of the Planet Coaster 1 lifecycle.

According to this, we might have two updates this year, the one they're currently working on, and the one that would bring the Thememaker.

The Thememaker is to me also the end of paid DLCs. It makes sense to open up the game for custom scenery once you've decided not to continue creating content for it. And otherwise, outsource it to the community, so the game's lifetime is extended by it for some more years.

The interesting and good news about it is that once Frontier is no longer working on DLCs, and the community is supporting the game for some more years.. the developers can focus on Planet Coaster 2. That should bring new dynamics and features not possible with the current engine or core software with more DLCs based on version 1 of the game.

[repost from reddit]

EDIT: Since this may cause confusion.... Approaching the end of Planco 1 lifecylce in favor of a new Planco 2 lifecycle or whatever WOULD BE GREAT NEWS. With UGC Planco will be better than ever, and will extend its lifespan, relevance and user base for sure. I'm also not saying Frontier won't be supporting the game or expanding it.
 
Last edited:

Joël

Volunteer Moderator
Joël
Ferran said:
I'm guessing we might be approaching the end of the Planet Coaster 1 lifecycle.
Click to expand...

That's quite dramatic...

I wouldn't be so sure about that. The latest financial statement of Frontier states that Planet Coaster continues to perform really well, so it would not be smart to stop producing DLC at this time. I think that there are still countless possibilities for future DLC, even with the new Thememaker's Toolkit. :D

The new Thememaker's Toolkit may also lead to new sales of the vanilla game, which in turn brings in additional revenue to continue to develop more gameplay and rides for the game.

To me the future of Planet Coaster is looking even brighter since today :D
 

ojonas

O
Ferran said:
I'm guessing we might be approaching the end of the Planet Coaster 1 lifecycle.

According to this, we might have two updates this year, the one they're currently working on, and the one that would bring the Thememaker.

The Thememaker is to me also the end of paid DLCs. It makes sense to open up the game for custom scenery once you've decided not to continue creating content for it. And otherwise, outsource it to the community, so the game's lifetime is extended by it for some more years.

The interesting and good news about it is that once Frontier is no longer working on DLCs, and the community is supporting the game for some more years.. the developers can focus on Planet Coaster 2. That should bring new dynamics and features not possible with the current engine or core software with more DLCs based on version 1 of the game.

[repost from reddit]
Click to expand...

You base this off what?

Why does everyone always see the glass half empty? People have been asking for this particular feature since day 1, stating that this would increase sales, not mean the end of the game. This will most likely have the quite opposite effect, selling more copies and broaden the customer base further. There are still plenty of new things they can add to the game and this Thememaker will not make it possible to add game mechanics, rides, shops etc.
 

lilibat

lilibat
So I am hearing this and thinking of the Sims. The Sims games have historically come out with creator kits that let you reskin and add models but they keep selling DLC packs.

My only issue is we can't export current ingame items to reskin. Again Sims handled this by having the model tagged with the DLC and if you had to have that DLC for the original then you had to have it for the reskin.

Maybe it won't work out as well here but I want to wait and see.
 

Serpentrax

S
I feel that the opposite is the case, the Thememaker is clearly envisioned in a way that allows Frontier to continue developing (and monetizing ) the game without interference of the modding community. Do note that the Thememaker is in no way a modding tool, it is a free but gated service run by the developer. It may or may not continue to operate after the last DLC comes out. Anything you submit to the service is subjected to terms that have not yet been communicated. Maybe they prevent us from uploading non-Frontier IP, maybe they wont' accept content that is better or similar to what Frontier offers in paid content. We simply don't know yet.
 

Ferran

F
ojonas said:
You base this off what?

Why does everyone always see the glass half empty? People have been asking for this particular feature since day 1, stating that this would increase sales, not mean the end of the game. This will most likely have the quite opposite effect, selling more copies and broaden the customer base further. There are still plenty of new things they can add to the game and this Thememaker will not make it possible to add game mechanics, rides, shops etc.
Click to expand...

But yes! I totally agree with you! It's not half empty to me, on the contrary. UGC will expand the game's lifetime and possibilities. And will also extend the user base. This will be a total push for Planco.

What I'm saying, and that is a good thing to me, is that with less pressure to keep adding content to the game via DLCs in order to make it still relevant, they can focus on other topics, such as the core and the engine. I don't see them profoundly changing the game mechanics via a DLC or update. I see that better in a Planco 2. But again, knowing that they could be working in a Planco 2 is to me so much far better than DLCs...
 

Ferran

F
Brett C said:
No, we are not approaching the end of Planet Coasters life cycle. :)
Click to expand...

Since it may not be clear from my post... That we were reaching the end of Planco 1's lifecycle in favor of a new Planco 2 lifecycle is definitely not a bad thing!!
My post was not of disappointment or trying to disappoint anybody, just on the contrary.
 

breezerHOG1

breezerHOG1
[video=youtube;FstV34XdsKQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FstV34XdsKQ[/video]
[video=youtube;DXRaboSo70A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXRaboSo70A[/video]
 

Ferran

F
Joël said:
That's quite dramatic...

I wouldn't be so sure about that. The latest financial statement of Frontier states that Planet Coaster continues to perform really well, so it would not be smart to stop producing DLC at this time. I think that there are still countless possibilities for future DLC, even with the new Thememaker's Toolkit. :D

The new Thememaker's Toolkit may also lead to new sales of the vanilla game, which in turn brings in additional revenue to continue to develop more gameplay and rides for the game.

To me the future of Planet Coaster is looking even brighter since today :D
Click to expand...

Well... DLCs are very heavy on scenery, being it its main selling point. UGC devaluates this selling point, since I'm sure there will be high quality UGC capable of competing with Frontier's. Since this is totally foreseeable and "not smart" as you say, the move to release the Thememaker will have an impact on the contents of future DLCs, if any. Maybe more focused on rides? We will see.

On the other hand, gameplay changes on free updates? Yes. On DLCs? Don't think so. Basically, because they already decided against it.
 

Joël

Volunteer Moderator
Joël
Ferran said:
Well... DLCs are very heavy on scenery, being it its main selling point. UGC devaluates this selling point, since I'm sure there will be high quality UGC capable of competing with Frontier's. Since this is totally foreseeable and "not smart" as you say, the move to release the Thememaker will have an impact on the contents of future DLCs, if any. Maybe more focused on rides? We will see.

On the other hand, gameplay changes on free updates? Yes. On DLCs? Don't think so. Basically, because they already decided against it.
Click to expand...

Like you said... We will see. ;)
 

inspectorgadget1

inspectorgadget1
The game's been out for less than 2 years, if you think a 'Planet Coaster 2' is being worked on any time soon (if ever) then you're gonna be disappointed. Some complained when there was no sign of mod support and now we have it there's concern shown this is the end of Planet Coaster (version 1). No need to get so worried people, have faith [cool]
 

Zeptis

Z
If anything, I think the Thememaker just gives the devs time to work on new gameplay features rather then just continuing to pump our cosmetic DLC every few months. So I have hope!
 

2MileDollywood

2MileDollywood
I interpret the new Thememaker Kit as a positive sign that the community can now create themes of all types to import into the game, and Frontier will start focusing DLCs heavily on rides, elements, coasters, etc.. When Frontier released Spooky many in the community (myself included) were both excited and a bit disappointed in the lack of spooky items. So with the new custom scenery we'll be able to use and the many talented content creators we will see more items, more pieces, and more new themes to really take the game to the next level. I, for one, rather DLCs focus more on new gameplay content, more flats, more coasters, more attractions, rather than scenery pieces, but that's just my opinion. This direction Frontier is taking is paving, again, IMO, a few more years for Planet Coaster.
 

cerealfruitcakes

cerealfruitcakes
ojonas said:
You base this off what?

Why does everyone always see the glass half empty? People have been asking for this particular feature since day 1, stating that this would increase sales, not mean the end of the game. This will most likely have the quite opposite effect, selling more copies and broaden the customer base further. There are still plenty of new things they can add to the game and this Thememaker will not make it possible to add game mechanics, rides, shops etc.
Click to expand...

One of the devs posted on the forum sometime around early spring or so that UGC would come to Planet Coaster at the end of its support. That's why people are suggesting that could be the case.
 

Robert K

R
But there are many rides I would love to see in the game and this thememaker kit won't allow custom rides to be made like RCT3. I hope then Frontier continues with DLC's and new rides. I would love for a way though to make our own cars/trains for tracked rides, so that we can make more variants of dark ride cars, different types of cars like antique cars with a roof, sports cars, more trains like one with open sided coaches with forward facing seats, diesel train like the one at my local park themed to the Zephyr from the mid-1930's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom